Automatic weighing means for tobacco scrap



J. A, ALLEN March 31, 1931.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MEANS FOR TOBACCO SCRAP J. A. ALLEN March 31, 1931.

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MEANS FOR TOBACCO SCRAP Filed Aug'. 25, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 gm@ o, @67471, 22611/ t March 3l, 1931. J. A ALLEN 1,798,776

AUTOMATIC WEIGHING MEANS FOR TOBACCO SCRAP l gnve'nlfoz A F1913 C/@m/ fi 22611/ atroz neg Patented Mar. 31, 1931 PATENT FFICE JOHN A. ALLEN, OF ST. PAUL, MINNEIGTA AUTOMATIC WEGHTNG TOBACCO SCRAP Application filed August 25, H23.

My invention relates to an automatic means of handling tobacco scrap and meas ring the sani in pre-determined quantities together With means for operating the measuring mechanis 1 in conjunction with rolling mechfor mening cigars. The tobacco scrap is used as a iller for cigars and to provide uniformly shaped and sized cigars it is essential that each cigar contain the same amount i9 of tobacco scrap as it is ordinarily termed.

My automatic measuring device includes a particular means operated by the weight of the scrap for releasing and starting the operating mechanism to carry the tobacco scrap Li into the Weighing cup. This includes a clutch device which. is operated by electrical means so as to quickly operate the n'iechanism of my machine to carry tobacco scrap into' the Weighing cup. is an important feature of J i iy invention to provide mechanism that may oe operated continually in the handling of tobacco scrap Without easily getting out of order and having a delicate Weighing means which operates the electrical switch means which will not easily get out of order.

ave accomplished these results by a clutch i, V ,l ice Which operates in such a manier as to he virtually instantaneous in opera- "ion and thus largely overcome lost motion the operation of the elevating and distributing means for the scrap to convey the same to the Weighing cup.

ln my automate Weighing tobacco scrap machine l have provided a particular hopper means which. includes an elevator member extended into the hopper in such a manner as to automatically feed the scrap to the conveyor. This permits the conveyor to virtu fj empty the hopper of the tobacco scrap operation. This means of my device is in that it permits a supply of t0- a to be dumped into the hopper i he conveyor automatically feeds the scrap out to the spreading means7 and the spreading neans carries the scrap to the Weif1iiiiigriip. The conveyor is automatically c ated by the Weighing cup and in the ope'ation of the rolling mechanism the Weighcup is dumped automatically. The moment that the Weighing cup is dumped of its contents the Weighing mechanism associated with the Weighing cup causes a circuit to be lade with the operating pulley clutch which i Lantly operates the conveying means and spreader mechanism. All of these parts are ti" ed to operate together with a minimum lost motion and thus it will be apparent that it i portant to provide a particular mech which is adapted to operate virtually instantly at the desired moment.

Tn the drawings forming part of my specication:

Figure l is a side view partly in section of my automatic tobacco scrap machine.

.Figure :s a front view of the same.

Figure 3 is a detail of 'the ufeighing cup and reieasing mechanism.

Figure l is a plan view illustrating aA detail of the weighing cup and connecting parts.

Figure 5 is a side View of the sama ilius- 10 the electrical switch operated by the re 5 an enlarged detail of the electrical switch of the Weighing cup.

Figure T is an enlarged detail of a portion of the arm operated by the rolling mechay nism and showing the roller end of the resetting arm for the catch mechanism for the 'weighing cup.

Figure 8 is a sectional illustration of the roller described in Figure 7 Figure 9 is a Wiring diagram diagrammatically showing the Wiring of my automatic tobacco scrap machine.

Figure l() is a front View of the pulley lutch and counter shaft employed in operatmy machine.

Figure 1l is an end view of the pulley clutch and shaft.

Figure l2 is a section on the line l2-l2 igure 1l.

.iiigure 13 is a sectional enlarged detail of one of the magnets employed in my pulley clutch.

My automatic tohacco scrap machine A is provided with a hopper B having inclined Walls 9 and 10 which direct the tobacco scrap placed in Vthe hopper B to the conveyor C.

The conveyor C extends from the bottom 1l of the hopper B to the upwardly project- 'im ing end12 and is formed with litters 13 on the belt of the same which pickup a certain amount of tobacco scrap and carry it up to the slide 14.

rl`he slide 14 leads to a spreading roller 15 and after the. tobacco scrap has slid down the slide 14 to the spreading roller 15, the roller 15 carries the same on toa short conveyor 13 which leads to the weighing cup D. ln the operating or" the conveyor C the tobacco scrap is carried up as just described and discharged into the weighing cup D.

rlfhe weighing cup D is positioned at the ward side or the tobacco scrap machine A s associated with the chute 17 which s from the weighing cup B to the recess 8 in the rolling table 19 oi the rolling mechanism E, directly7 in teent of the lweighing tobacco scrap each operation. The rolling? mechanism is provided with a trame portion 21 which carries a bracket arm 22 adapted to support operating rod 23. rlhe operating rod 23 is adapted to be engaged by the lever 24 which strikes against the end 25 of the rod 23 when the lever A24 is pushed toward the end 25 in the operation of the rolling mechanism E. The operating lever 24 is connected to the flexible belt 2O ci" the rolling mechanism E in a manner to roll the tobacco scrap up in a tobacco leaic cover when the lever 24 is pulled forward toward the outer front end ora the table 19.

The backward stroke of the lever 24 strikes the rod 23 and causes the end 26 01"' the rod 23 to .torce the dogv 27 out into the position illustrated in dotted outline in Figure 3 which releases the spring catch 28. The spring catch 28 is carried by the bracket 29 and is provided withan operating spring 30. A latch member V31 is provided on oneend of the spring catch rod 28 and the Vlatch member is pivoted so'that in the backward stroke of the same it will pass under the edge 32 o'l the weighing cup D. As the spring catch 28 is moved into setting position, the latch member' 31 strikes against the adjustable rod 33 to reset the latch member 31 into the position illustrated in full lines in Figure 3. The rod 33 is threaded, and screws into the bracket 29,

. beine' held in an desired osition bT means el a lock nut. The resetting of the spring catch 28 is accomplished by the operating rod 34 which is provide-d with a roller en d 35 which is engaged by the lever 24 in its backward movement, as illustrated in dotted outline in Figure 3. l provide a guidebar 36 in which the roller 37 is adapted to engage. rlhe roller 3'? is positioned adjacent the roller 35 and has a tendency to strengthenv and support the tree. end of the operating rod 34.

The cup D is made split, as illustrated in Figure 3, and the front portion is weighted at 38. This front por ion is pivoted at 39 so that when the catch 28 is released the latchy 3l will engage the lower tree edge of the front portion ot the cup and cause the iront portion of the cup to tilt as illustrated in dotted outline to dump the contents or the. cup into the chute 17, directing the weighed out scrap into the recess 18. These operations are virtually automatic in the dumping of the cup D and the resetting or' the catch 28 into operative position.

The cup D is supported to the parallel rods 40 which rest upon the knife edges 41 and whichare connected by the bar 42 on the end opposite the cup D. The bar 42 carries an adjustable balancing weight 43. Between the rods 40 l provide 'an auxiliary balance rod which carries the adjustable weight 45 on one'end and which lits through a hole in the bar 45- the other end which engages under the rods 40.V The balance Yrod 44 is adapted to engage the knife edge 47 and the rod 44 is piivotall'y connected at 48 with therswitch arm 49. The switch arm is positioned virtually directly below the balance rod 44 and an la ged view o1c the same is illustrated in the switch l1 and when the arm 49 is operated the contact points 50 are opened or closed according to the direction of movement ot the arm 49, owing to the tact that the arm 49 is pivotally supported at 51 by the standard rlhe standard 52 is of insulating material and the electrical connection is made direct to the arm 49. Thus one Contact peint 50 forms one side of the. circuit and the other contact the other side. Vvlhen the arm 49 is operated by the rod 44 to open the switch F, then the contacts 50 are separated and the circuit is broken. lWhen the weighing cup D is lilled with tobacco scrap to the desired amount according to the balance weights 43 and 45, then the cup D will balance on the kniie points'41 and 47 and tilt sutliciently to open the switch F separating vthe contact points 50. rlhe operation and the circuit controlled by the weighing cup D which causes my tobacco' scrap machine A to operate automatically will be more fully hereinafter described.

My tobacco scrap machine il is adapted to be operated by an electric motor G which is supported in the base trame 54. The motor G' is adapted to operate the belt 55 which in turn operates the clutch pulley 5G carried bythe counter shaft 57.

The' clutch pulley 53 is of a particular construction being formed with the belt receivingpulley portion 58 and ordinarily the ei r Figure 6. The switch arm iiorms'a part or" ist m'otor G operates continually during the time in which the machine A is in use to continue to drive the pulley 58. Adjacent the pulley 58 the clutch pulley 56 is provided with a clutch plate 59 which is carried by the sleeve 60. A pulley 61 is mounted on the sleeve and ordinarily the sleeve 60 with the clutch plate 57 and the pulley 61 remain stationary on the shaft 57 while the pulley 58 rotates with the shaft. The pulley 58 is provided with operating magnet members 62 which are supported within the pulley 58 by the braclet members 68 illustrated in Figure 11 and also illustrated in Figure 13. I povide two collector rings 64, illustrated in Figures 11 and 12, which feed current to the magnets 62 by means of the brushes 65, illustrated in Figure 10.

In operation the clutch pulley 56 is rotated continually during the use of the machine A by the operaeion of the motor G and the belt 55. By means of a line-switch H current is directed from the line wires 66 to operate the motor G- through the connection of the wires 67. The clutch pulley 56 illustrated diagrammatically in Figure 9, is connected by the wires 68 through the switch F with the line current 66.

Thus in the operation of my automatic tobacco scrap machine the weighing cup D is adapted to operate the switch F so that when ae cup D is empty the switch points 50 are closed, closing the circuit through the collectorl rings 64 with the magnets 62 and causing the magnets to draw the clutch plate 59 into contact with the clutch surface 7 O illustrated in Figure 12, and virtually locking the clutch plate 59 with the pulley 58, causing the pulley 61 to be operated with the clutch pulley 56 as long as the switch F is closed. The pulley 61 connected by means of the belt 71 with the drive shaft 7 2 so as to operate the elevator C picking up the scrap by the lift-ers 13 and carrying it up to the chute 14 which causes the scrap to be directed down on to the spreading roller 15. The drive belt 73 is adapted to extend to the shaft 74 which operates the conveyor .16 leading from the spreader roll 15. A short belt 75 from the shaft 74 extends to operate the spreader roller 15 Thus when the tobacco scrap is discharged into the chute 14 to the spreader roller 15, the spreader roller operates through the belt 73 and the auxiliary belt 75 to spread the tobacco scrap evenly on to the conveyor 16. The conveyor then carries the tobacco scrap forward into the cnp D as will be clearly apprehended from F igure 1, and when the weighing cup D is filled with tobacco scrap to the desired amount, the switch F is automatically operated to open the contacts 50 and break the circuit which closes the clutch pulley 56. The operation of the clutch pulley is virtually instantaneous so that the starting and stopping of the conveyor C, the spreader roller 15, and the conveyor 16, is virtually instantaneous and no scrap is carried into the cup after the circuit is broken by the switch F. This is an important feature of my tobacco scrap machine and thus the construction and operation of my clutch pulley 56 is of primar f importance, together with the particular arrangement of the switch F for causing the parts to operate automatically. These reaturcs together with the formation of the hopper D so that the conveyor C will virtually empty the same of tobacco scrap in operation, are also an important part of my my machine.

The weighing cup D is automatically emptied by the operation of the roller mechanism E. Ordinarily the roller mechanism E is operated by hand by the operator who is positioned in front of the machine A and who lays the tobacco leaf cover on the front of the belt 2O on the table 19 and then operates the lever to cause the belt to pick up the tobacco scrap from the pocket 18 and roll it into the tobacco leaf covery in a uniform manner. The fact that the weighing cup D always weighs out the same amount of scrap for each rolling operation is extremely important as in this manner I provide cigars with a body portion formed of tobacco scrap unirormly shaped and of uniform weight. This is a very important feature in the making of cigars. 'Vhen the operator has completed thD rolling operation of the tobacco scrap in the leaf cover, the minute detail of which is not set forth, the lever 24 is pushed backward toward the chute 17 and in pushing this lever 24 backward it is adapted to strike the releasing rod 23 which operates the dog 27 and releases the spring catch 28 which automatically opens the weighing cup D to discharge the tobacco scrap into the chute 17' and permit the scrap weighed out to fall into the pocket or recess 18.

The operation of the lever 24 also resets the latch 3l of the catch 28 so that when the dog 27 is released the latch is adapted to be forced against the lower free edge of the cup D to open the same simultaneously with they releasing of the catch 28. Thus the operation continues in the use of my tobacco scrap machine to operate the conveying and spreading means only when the cup D is empty. My machine is so arranged that the rolling operation of the scrap into a cover tobacco leaf takes virtually the same time as it takes the machine A to fill the cup D with tobacco scrap the desired amount. Thus upon the return movement of the lever 24 the tobacco scrap from the cup'D is discharged into the pocket 18. In this manner the operator can continue without interruption and a very large quantity of cigars can be rolled, all of which are uniform, not only in size but in weight and thereby affording :fill

a saving in the manufacture which is a material factor. l have .found my machine to operate very satisfactorily to accomplish the results desired and in providing a means wherein theV tobacco scrap can be handled uniformlyand a product may be turned out which has ,a uniform nature which Was dii"- iicult to. accomplish heretofore.

ln accordance with the patent statutes l have described the principles oi operatirm oic my automatic tobacco scrap machine and l have endeavored to illustrate the best embodiment thereof in the drawings, hovfever, it is obvious that various changes may be made to one skilled in the art Within the scope of the following claims Without departing from the purpose and intent of my invention.

l claim:

l. A tobacco scrap machine including, a storage hopper having inclined Walls to form a small bottom end with a large upper end, an elevator positioned to operate along one ot said Walls, a spreader adapted to receive tobacco scrap Jfrom said elevator, and

Weighing cup adapted to receive the tobacco scrap from said spreader and the same ont into a pre-determined amount, and switch means controlled by saidcup and adaptedtointermittently operate said elcvator and spreader.

2. A tobacco scrap handling device including, a receiving hopper, an elevatorvor ine' the tobacco scrap out said hopper, spreader and arrier means adapted to re.- ceivo the t bacco scrap from said elevator, a Weighing-means into which the tobacco scrap is deposited. from said spreader and conveying means, and means associated With said Weighing means adapted tov complete an electric circuit and operate a magnetic clutch to operate said conveyor and spreader-means automatically until said Weigning means Vhas received the proper amount of tobacco scrap.

3. A tobacco scrap machine comprising, a hopper having converging sides'to provide a small end, aconveyor extending into said small end, a spreader, anauxiliary conveyor leading from said spreader, a Weighing cup adjacent said auxiliary conveyor, Va pulley clutch magnetically operated, a motor for operating said pulley clutch, and a switch operable by said Weighing cup Yto operate said pulleyV clutch by an electric circuit to cause the conveyor to carry tobacco scrap from said hopper to said spreader and auxiliary conveyor and to said Weighing cup when said Weighing cup isempty and to automatically release said pulley clutch and stop said conveyorv and spreading means When said Weighing cup is iilled With a pre-determined amount of" tobacco scrap.

4. A tobacco scrap machine comprising, means for receiving tobacco scrap in a hopper,means.for conveying and spreading the tobacco scrap, means for Weighing the'tobacco scrap into pre-determined amounts, meansV iior releasing the tobacco scrap from said Weighing means, and electrically operated clutch means controlled by said Weighing` Weighing means is empty.

fr tobacco scrap -casuring device ind electric means toi' operating said device, el ctroinagentic operated disc crutch and pulley, a conveying and spreading means operated by said pulley, Weighing means, and nn electric switch means operated by said Weighii means adapted to operate said ieticaliy operated disc clutch and pulley, said conveying and spreading means being adapted to fill said Weighing means with a nre-determined amount oi tobacco said Weighing` means has been emptied oi tobacco scrap in the operation o?? said device.

6. A tobacco scrap Weighing device including, means for storing tobacco scrap, meansior spreading the tobacco scrap, means for conveying the tobacco scrap to said spreader, means tor Weighing the tobacco scrap into predetermined amounts, means for discharging the tobacco scrap from said Weighing means, and electrical means for operating said conveying Vand spreading means automn reallyV from` the time said Weighing means is emptied until said Weighing means is illed with a desired amount of tobacco scrap, and automatically stopping said conscrap. l

7. A tobacco scrap Weighing apparatus including, a tobacco' scrap storage compartment, a conveyor leading from said storage compartment, means for carrying the tobacco scrap from said conveyor spread out, means for receiving the spread out tobacco scrap from said carrying means, means for rolling the tobacco scrap into a cover, means for releasing the tobacco scrap ironi said Weighing means, and electrical means for instantly operating said conveyor means from said storage compartment to carry tobacco scrap to said Weighing means, and means for instantly stopping said conveyor inea-ns at the inoment said Weighing means is filled to the desired amount with tobacco scrap.

8. A. tobacco scrap Weighing apparatus comprising, a receiving compartment tor tobacco scrap, means for carrying the tobacco scrap from said receiving` compartment, a Weighing means for receiving the tobacco scrap carried from saidY compartment, a pulle1 operated lo an electric motor a counter shaft for supporting said pulley, a clutch disc associated with said pulley adapted to operate a second pulley, magnetic means for operating said clutch disc to cause said pulley and clutch disc to operate in unison and thereby operate said second pulley, said second pulley being adapted to operate said carrying` means for the tobacco scrap from the receiving compartment, and means operable by said weighing means adapted to operate said magnetic means to operate said clutch 9. A tobacco scrap storing and weighing,r apparatus including. a. Weighing cup, electric switch means adapted to be associated with said carrying` cup, an electric motor, a pulley and counter shaft operable continually by said motor, a. magnetically operated clutch disc and pulley operable by said switch associated with said weighing cup, said switch being adapted to close when said carryingr cup is empty to operate said clutch and pulley in a manner to operate conveying means ff to carry tobacco scrap to said weighing cup.

10. A tobacco scrap weighing apparatus includingi a veigrhing'cup. means for dischargingr the contents automatically out of said weifhinp; cup, means for storingP tobacco scrap. means for carrying tobacco scrap from said storage means to weighingr cup. a

rollingr belt associated with said weighingf cup to receive the tobacco scrap therefrom, and

electromagnetic means for operating said 30 carrying means to said weighing cup by a switch, operated by said weighing means, which remains closed during the period that said weighing? cup is empty.

11. A tobacco scrap weighing device and rolling;r means including, a scrap receiving' pocket, a rollingr belt, a weighing cup for tobacco scrap means for carrying: tobacco scrap to said weighing cup, means for releasing the contents of said cup into said pocket i0 associated with said rollingr belt. an electrical switch operated by said weighing cup. and a. clutch and pulley means magnetically operated by an electric circuit controlled by said switch associated with said. cup, whereby said conveying means for tobacco scrap to said cup is operated instantly when said cup is empty and stopped the moment said cup is filled with tobacco scrap.

12. A tobacco scrap weighing apparatus including', a weighing` cup. a scrap receivingI compartment, a rolling belt associated with said weighing cup to receive the tobacco scrap therefrom, a conveyor and an electric magnetic clutch associated with said conveyor operable by an electric circuit, means associated with said weighing cup for closing the circuit when said weighing cup is empty and breaking said circuit when said u cup yis filled. "o A JOHN A. ALLEN. 

